Colombian citizens’ perception on corruption in the country has neither improved nor worsened for the third year running in 2014, revealed NGO Transparency International on Wednesday.
Colombia’s negative record in the annual global Corruption Perception Index prepared by the international civil society organization has virtually not changed since the last year’s ranking.
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Colombia remains ranked 94th out of the total of 175 countries included in the report.
MORE: Colombia maintains ranking in global corruption index
This year’s study indicates that despite the efforts by the government and the private sector to combat corruptio
n in the country, the perception of the problem hasn’t significantly improved.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.
“A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). A country or territory’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index,” explains the NGO.
Colombia’s citizens gave their country a 37 out of 100 for the level of transparency displayed by their government. In 2013, the number was just a point less. 36 was also the score in the 2012 index.
“This slight change in the ranking is a result of an improved evaluation in the World Economic Forum’s 2014 Executive Opinion Survey (from 28 in 2013 to 33 in 2014), which tests the opinion of executives and experts in risk assessment,” said the Colombian branch of Transparency International.
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In Latin America & the Caribbean, Colombia continued in the bottom half of the list of countries in regards to corruption, occupying the 18th spot of 30, lower than the average score of 45. Leading the regional ranking is Barbados on 17th position, followed by Chile and Uruguay on 21st.
Colombia shares the 94th spot worldwide with countries such as Liberia, Egypt and Panama.
For Elisabeth Ungar, the director of Transparency for Colombia, the results show that although there have been some efforts from the government and the civil society to fight the issue, the perception that the country maintains high levels of corruption is unchanged.
“The measures adopted, such as the anti-corruption statute or the “Colombia buys Efficiently” initiative are yet to produce the desired effects. But it is necessary to continue with the changes,” said Ungar.
For Camilo Alberto Enciso from President Juan Manuel Santos’ Secretary of Transparency office, the index has its advantages as it assesses the citizens’ perception of the problem, but there are some important variables it doesn’t take into account.
“The report doesn’t consider concrete, tangible actions the state has taken to prevent corruption,” he said.
For Enciso, the efficiency of the state’s fight against corruption must be measured by other indicators, which better reflect the institutional efforts to prevent corruption and guarantee transparency.
“94th position is very far from where we desire to be. We want to be among the first countries on the list,” concluded the official.
Sources
- CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2014: RESULTS (Transparency International)
- Colombia está a media tabla en índice de corrupción entre 175 países (El Tiempo)